1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to systems for printing data requested to be printed by a user of a mobile terminal using a printer connected to a network by using position information from the mobile terminal. The present invention also relates to terminals applied to the systems, and relates to programs to be applied to terminals, and relates to methods which have the same effects with the systems above. More specifically, the present invention relates to a data output system, an output control terminal, a program to be applied to an output control terminal, and a data output method which are suitable for controlling a printer in accordance with the position of a user without providing a mobile terminal and the printer with special devices. The present invention may also be suitable for lessening the processing burden on the mobile terminal, and for ensuring the convenience of users when using the printer while avoiding inconvenience due to incorrect setting by the user.
2. Description of Related Art
A current system for operating an apparatus by remote control using a mobile terminal, for example, a vehicular remote control apparatus, is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-303026. In such a vehicular remote control apparatus, a vehicular apparatus is operated by remote control by giving a control command from an external mobile terminal using wireless communication device. The vehicular remote control apparatus can include a device for detecting the motion of the mobile terminal, a device for analyzing the pattern of the motion and for recognizing the analyzed pattern of the motion, and a device for generating a control command corresponding to the recognized pattern of the motion. Accordingly, with a simple configuration, many types of operation commands can be accurately discriminated, and various operations can be performed by remote control.
A current system for printing data, for example, a printer is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-293173. In such a device, the printer moves a print head in a direction orthogonal to a print-medium feeding direction and transfers ink on an ink ribbon, which is supplied from a ribbon cassette installed therein, to the print medium by using the print head. The printer includes a locking mechanism for locking the ribbon cassette to the printer when the ribbon cassette is installed therein. The printer can further include a first detection device for detecting a near-end when the ink ribbon contained in the ribbon cassette reaches the near-end, and confirmation device for confirming user authentication. The locking mechanism is unlocked on the basis of the logical AND of a detection signal of the first detection device and a confirmation signal of the confirmation device.
Accordingly, only an authenticated user can replace the ribbon cassette by an unused ribbon cassette when the ink ribbon reaches the near-end. The ribbon cassette cannot be replaced by users other than those authenticated. The ribbon cassette cannot be replaced until it reaches the near-end. Thus, ribbon cassettes can be suitably managed. It is therefore possible to prevent disclosure and abuse of important information left on the ink ribbon.